How are alternative stories created in a self-help group?: Applying positioning analysis to narrative practice

The aim of this article is to reveal how alternative stories and identities are constructed through narrative practice in a self-help group. An analysis using the concept of positioning was conducted with a SHG for the parents facing their children’s delinquency. I use data that were collected in the framework of participant observation and interviews with group members. The results show that parents were describing themselves in two manners: in relation to social discourse and in relation to an emerging group narrative. The group narrative provides support for parents trying to break free from their negative position as imposed by the dominant social discourse. Another important piece of the construction of alternative stories is the positioning that differentiates the past self from the present self. Thereby, the parents acquire a position from which they can criticize the social discourse that was part of the foundation of the past self.